Chinese Tycoon ‘Mr. Chinawood’ Bets Big on Crypto Exchange

It goes without saying that this year has been epic for the cryptocurrency industry. A ‘Big Bang’ for a technology that was embryonic just six months ago. Big players are starting to take an interest now as investment opportunities are abundant in the burgeoning markets.

According to the New York Post, one of China’s biggest business and entertainment tycoons has bought a 27% stake in the Delaware Board of Trade, a company operating one of the newest cryptocurrency exchanges in the US.

Chinese Charge Ahead

Bruno Wu’s Seven Stars Cloud invested $2 million into the fledgling exchange and “dark pool” operator, according to the publication. Wu is not the first; Chinese company Chongqing Casin Enterprise Group faced opposition from the SEC back in August when it tried to buy the Chicago Stock Exchange, according to a report in theFinancial Times.

Wu is one of China’s most affluent entertainment entrepreneurs; he has been called Mr. Chinawood for his raft of investments in the industry. His company gave a private investment presentation to bankers at Cowen & Co. earlier this month as it makes moves to enter the lucrative crypto trading market. The company is calling the settlement an “initial exchange offering,” a play on initial coin offerings. Seven Stars President and Chief Revenue Officer Robert Benya will join the board of the Delaware Board of Trade as part of the deal.

Wu has dabbled in the past, buying a majority share of a YouTube-like company called YOU On Demand last year, which was previously owned by World Wrestling Entertainment icon and professional wrestler Shane McMahon.

Company Vision

Wu announced a brief update and highlighted the company vision in a press release on December 22:

Seven Stars Cloud is a next-generation Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain-Powered Financial Technology Company that offers supply chain and digital finance solutions aiming to disrupt and consolidate supply chain finance, risk management and asset-backed digital securitization. Focusing on Blockchain for a moment I want to be very clear and concise on how Blockchain is powering Seven Stars Cloud business models.

The statement went on to say:

However, Seven Stars Cloud is in no way a Bitcoin-related company and it must be highlighted that the opportunities and possibilities of Blockchain extend far beyond the world of cryptocurrencies … we are applying Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence to create a hybrid solution for supply chain finance, risk management and asset-backed digital securitization. And these are only the first massive opportunities and markets we are targeting, with more plug and play opportunities to be announced in 2018.

Individual Asian investment is already driving the cryptocurrency market, and now the big players are looking for a slice of the action.

How will this latest development affect the cryptocurrency market? Do you think that more mainstream businesses will begin investing in exchanges and other bitcoin-related services? Let us know in the comments below.